Extreme Joy
IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME since I’ve smiled like this from the back of a horse.
I’ve felt plenty of emotions during my quest for a high-point buckle from my local riding association. Frustration at my perpetual inability to pick up a right lead. Anxiety over memorizing reining patterns. Satisfaction over a decent showmanship class.
But I’ve never experienced the unbridled joy that’s causing the massive ear-to-ear grin currently taking over my face. The grin is warranted; I’ve just galloped hell-for-leather—on a handy Missouri Fox Trotter gelding named Riley—through a shallow pond, sprays of water drenching me head to toe and flaxen mane whipping into my face. Living out this quintessential cowgirl tableau, it’s impossible not to smile.
It’s not my first or only smile of the day. Thanks to my hosts—extreme mountain trail enthusiasts Jim Goff and Roger Cohen—I’ve just spent the day at the privately owned Chester Horse Park in Evergreen, Colorado, tackling obstacles seamlessly embedded into the mountain landscape of the ranch’s horse park. Among many others, there was the smile of triumph
